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After nearly 18 years and six albums, 3 Doors Down knows its way around big stages, pyrotechnics at all. But the group is starting the year with a little Back Porch Jam.

The quintet’s current tour is its second acoustic outing, coming in the wake of 2016’s “Us and the Night” and giving the group’s audience a chance to hear stripped-down versions of hits such as “Kryptonite,” “When I’m Gone,” “Be Like That,” “Here Without You” and more. Frontman Brad Arnold tells us it’s a fresh experience for both the band and its fans, and maybe even a nice bridge towards the next batch of new material...

• Arnold, 39, says by phone that the acoustic format “gives us a chance to convey those emotions without fire shooting everywhere and smoke and this and that. It’s just really cool. I think it’s a show that might catch people a little off guard at first, ‘cause you go in and you’re like, ‘OK, what’s this gonna be? This could be kinda kooky.’ But so far we’ve achieved our goal; When you see ‘em walk out the door everybody’s got the biggest smile on their face and they’re happy that they’ve been there and we’re happy that they’ve been there. You can’t ask for more than that.”

• Arnold adds that 3 Doors Down is better at playing in this format now than it was the last time the group tried it. “I think we’ve got a better grasp on it this time,” he acknowledges. It’s been four, four and a half years since we did the last one, and that was our first time doing a full acoustic tour. And I think the band is in a better place now as well -- not that we were in a bad place then, but everybody’s sober and stuff now so you get up there and it’s all about the music. It’s not about what we’re gonna have to drink when we get off stage. It is just a really good all-around vibe.”

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• 3 Doors Down is thinking about its next album now, but it hasn’t progressed too far beyond that stage, according to Arnold. “We need to get going on it before long,” he promises. “We really are going to do some writing this year. I have a lot of good ideas for some songs right now that I’ve just been recording in my phone. I’ve got a ton of ideas and I know the guys have a lot of ideas; We’re just going to have to put some time aside and sit down and start putting those ideas together, and I do look forward to making a new collection of songs. I don’t know if it’ll be a record, or maybe we’ll release a few songs as we get ‘em done. We don’t know exactly what we’re gonna do yet.”